Friday, September 5, 2014

Return to the Scene of the Crime...



A little under a year ago, at this exact spot on the creek, I lost what was probably going to be my first trophy trout (The Great White Buffalo!). After picking off small trout after small trout I had a huge one on the line and he ended up breaking my 5 lb leader because my drag was all the way tight. Obvious lesson learned, always check your drag before fishing. 
Large pond to the right
I took my wife with me to fish dry creek. I made sure that the creek was open to fishing and made my way out there. I know that the last time I was there I promised you guys a picture of what the place I’m fishing looks like. I figured I would break it down for you.
The breakdown
On the far left you can see the water coming out of a large pond (light green). That water funnels out through three little streams (dark green) that eventually come together (yellow) and drop into the main pond. Right where the water enters the main pond there is a steep drop (red) off but I’m not sure how deep it is. This is the strike zone. 

1 of 3 rainbows caught
Anyway, I set up a chair for my wife under a tree and took to the stream. I tied on a sloan’s paralyzer and first cast was a strike but it didn’t stick. I cast out a few more times and after a while I finally caught my first small native rainbow. Probably about 7 inches. I really wanted to get it released quickly so I tossed it back in quickly. A bit later I stopped getting bites and  switched to various other flies including a black wooley bugger, A san juan Worm, an elk hair caddis, a prince nymph, a hopper pattern, etc. but they weren’t biting anything except the paralyzer. 

My love and her bow 
As the day progressed and the sun set over the mountains, the bite got better. My wife walked over and asked if she could try fly fishing. I gave her some quick basic instructions on casting and she started. She couldn’t see the fly when it was on the water but I sure could. One of her drifts was perfect and I saw a takedown that she didn’t even notice. I told her to pull the line with her hand and she brought in a small rainbow. I was ecstatic! She was happy but her first words were, “it’s just a baby.” I told her about the big one I lost right in this spot and she handed me the rod. She went back to sit down and said, “That’s a silly sport.” Lol Here I was thinking that she was going to love the fact that the first time she fly fished she caught fish and instead she calls it silly. Some people just weren’t made to fish. 

A bit later I caught one more rainbow and that was it for the afternoon. I would have stayed longer but my wife wanted to leave so we compromised and we left. 

Not the best day, maybe if I had stayed a bit longer I would have had a chance at some bigger ones. It was still great to fly fish for, and catch some trout! Have a month or so to come back before it closes for the season.

 Total fish: 3 Rainbow Trout




3 comments:

  1. That's OK, I have a wife that doesn't fish either. I was going to make a comment, right when you said she had the rod in hand and caught the fish, about "Now is the time to get a 3 wt.", but that went down the toilet with the silly sport comment. Sorry.

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  2. Maybe she doesn't understand yet the whole releasing of fish yet (let alone the smaller ones.....). If that fish had been say 15" or so she would probably never given your rod back too you, period! Anyway, nice to see you picking a few trout up with the fly. Happy hook ups!

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  3. Juan
    Lucky you to get the wife out on a fishing trip with you, my wife had rather be at the mall--congrats on landing the bows. thanks for sharing

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